There are four primary areas, or four no sure signs that I want us to consider. Edwards actually lists twelve inconclusive signs in Part II, but it would be almost impossible to cover each one of those as its own separate point as well as the fact that some of them overlap a bit anyway. So I’ve tried to summarize them under four main categories, though I’ll end up referencing ten of Edwards’ twelve throughout.
1. Just because you have religious affections is no sure sign.
Now we’ve labored to say in this series that there is no true religion without religious affections. Love, joy, gladness, zeal, sorrow for sin, etc., are all fundamental to real Christian living. On the other hand, it is no evidence that religious affections are of a spiritual and gracious nature just because someone has affections, or even because those affections are great.
For example, the Israelites were greatly affected at the Red Sea and were praising God wonderfully for His work of deliverance.
Exodus 14:31 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses. 15:1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. 2 The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.”
Yet it was just a short while later that they had all but forgotten God and complained against Him.
Exodus 16:3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
At Mt. Sinai they exclaimed “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.”
Exodus 19:7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. 9 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.”
But they didn’t even wait for Moses to come back down before they committed gross idolatry.
Exodus 32:1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
Or how about on Palm Sunday the crowds cried out with loud voices, “Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (John 12:12-13). But for some that great and affectionate cry turned to another cry just a few days later, “Crucify Him, crucify Him” (Matthew 27:15-23). Just because you have affections doesn’t prove anything.
It is also no sure sign that a person has many different kinds of affections.
As from true divine love flow all Christian affections, so from a counterfeit love in like manner naturally flow other false affections. (p.78)
Just as men can have kind of temporary sorrow like King Saul or a kind of false joy like those stony-ground hearers (Matthew 13:20-21), so they can have many different affections and it be no sure proof.
Consider again the crowd on Palm Sunday in John 12:12-18. They were following Jesus because they had seen Him raise Lazarus from the dead. They seemed to have admiration, a degree of reverence in laying down their garments for Him to walk on, they had high praises to Him and earnest desires for the coming of God’s Kingdom which they supposed Jesus was about to set up, and they appeared very zealous on His behalf. But many of these were the same ones who turned on Him and sought His death. There was no proof of true faith in their worship and many affections.
What’s more, there are certain things that move people that do not require the Holy Spirit. For example, it is natural for a man to fear hell. And it is natural for that man to feel a sense of peace and joy that he has escaped that eternal punishment. There are some who receive this word with great gladness. But after a while, the cares of this world choke out that faith and prove that initial excitement to be worthless.
In fact, even such strong and numerous affections that affect the body are no sure signs.
Just because you get all tingly or your heart starts pounding or you tremble or you cry — nothing is proven for sure one way or the other. Any affection that is strong enough has an effect on the body. Watching a movie, cheering on your favorite sports team, watching a loved one suffer — all can affect the body, and they may have nothing at all to do with God.
Great effects on the body certainly are no sure evidence that affections are spiritual; for we see that such effects oftentimes arise from great affections about temporal things, and when religion is in no way concerned. (p.59)
Just because you are really moved or excited in worship doesn’t mean you aren’t moved more by the beat or the harmony or the lighting.
And one additional element, just because you can’t explain how you came to feel the way you do, or how you have so numerous or strong affections that affect your body is no sure sign that your affections are genuine. While it is true that genuine affections are produced supernaturally, that is, by the Spirit in such a way that we can’t fully comprehend,
There are other spirits who have influence on the minds of men besides the Holy Ghost. We are directed not to believe every spirit, but to try the spirits whether they be of God. There are many false spirits, exceeding busy with men, who often transform themselves into angels of light, and do in many wonderful ways, with great subtlety and power, mimic the operations of the Spirit of God. (p.64)
Now only that, but even God’s Spirit can work in a common, non-saving way.
Hebrews 6:4 For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they then fall away,
So just because you have religious affections, many of them, various kinds of them, of such a degree that they affect your body, even that you can’t explain — that is no sure sign of being a true Christian.
Some of you have had momentous and meaningful moments, responding to a sermon or some retreat weekend. You spoke of the changes God made in your heart and how you were committed to loving and praising Him more. And by this time your heart has grown cold and your obedience of little concern to you. Those kind of affections are no sure signs.
